First Day of School

Today was H's first day of kindergarten. I went in this morning to wake her up and asked if anyone in her room was going to kindergarten today. With her eyes still closed, she raised her hand and got a huge grin on her face. So we ate breakfast and got dressed (She was very concerned that she didn't have a cell phone to go in the cell phone holder on her backpack). Then, the whole family got in the car and drove her to school.

We didn't stay long and I held it together until we were on our way out to the car. It was really tough seeing her standing on the playground all by herself not knowing anyone. That really was the hardest part and I think if she had known some of the other kids I wouldn't have been crying leaving her there. As we were getting in the car K said, "I'm gonna miss H."

Fast forward to 1:15...We headed out to the bus stop to meet the bus. When it finally came I could see her through the window. She was so sweaty her hair was matted to her face, but she was happy. She loved school. She tells everyone it was great and she it so excited to go back tomorrow.

It's A Girl!

So, now we're even 2 and 2!

California

We had the chance to go to California at the end of July for a family reunion/vacation. We left Sunday after church and drove to Escondido to stay with N's parents in their trailer. Also visiting (in their own trailer) were N's brother and his family. The kids traveled well, except for K. He talked/screamed the entire way, and not because he had a good reason. He was basically just trying to keep himself awake. It was quite the drive.

When we got to Escondido we opened the van doors and we all did a happy dance because the weather was beautiful. It was actually cool! Probably mid-70's and breezy. We took the kids up to a park to let them run around for a little bit (they really needed to stretch after being in the van for so long). N commented that he almost needed his jacket!

That night the fun began. H woke up in the middle of the night complaining that her ear hurt and that she needed her hair brushed because she couldn't get her fingers through it. She had been sick the week before and was still getting over it when we left. I gave her some motrin and noticed that her hair was all stringy and ratty. I realized then that her ear was draining-alot. I woke N up thinking we might need to take her to the ER and we decided that I would call the pediatrician in the morning and see what they thought.

In the morning, we all got ready for our trip to Sea World (the part of the trip H was looking forward to the most). I called the ped and they said we needed to get her to urgent care because she may have ruptured her eardrum. I talked to N and H about it and H wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to go to Sea World. End of story. So, she toughed it out with her ear draining all day and everything.
The kids LOVED Sea World. We saw almost everything. We saw the dolphin show, the flamingos, the rays and eels, the sharks, the seal lion and otter show (which H loved. She laughed the whole way through), the Sesame Street 4-D movie, the Cirque de la Mer show, the penquins, we rode the rides at the Sesame Street Bay of Play, and of course, we saw Shamu.

We discovered that K is not a very good waiter. He just wouldn't sit still. Then, once a show started he would ask if it was over and he would continue to ask throughout the show. (I don't think we'll be taking him to Disney any time soon. I can only imagine how he'd do waiting in lines.) Despite H's ear she had a great time. She was so excited to see Shamu (it was all we heard about for the week before we left). M did great, as well. N carried him most of the time in the carrier and he slept a lot of the day. He was awake to see Shamu, and wasn't the least bit happy when he got splashed in the face by Shamu. Twice. (Side note: K hid under the bench when Shamu started splashing.) Sea World was a long day and the kids crashed on the drive back to the trailer. We couldn't even get them to wake up to eat dinner.

The next morning H and I went to urgent care to get her ear checked out because it was still draining. After an hour wait we got in to see the doctor who said he didn't see a hole in her eardrum, but it was bulging and swollen. He said the pressure from coming over the mountains probably released the pressure behind her eardrum and caused it to drain. He prescribed an antibiotic, gave us a bottle of motrin and some mucinex samples, and sent us on our way.

So, it was on to Oceanside to the family reunion. We arrived at the camp ground and got all situated. We visited with everyone that day and had a great time being outside. We also found out there had been an earthquake in LA, but we didn't feel it.

Wednesday, which H declared was the greatest day of her life, we went to Balboa Park. We rode the carousel and then walked around a little. H saw a dinosaur on the side of a building and just had to go inside. It was the San Diego Natural History Museum. The kids loved seeing the dino skeletons. There was a water exhibit which was fun to see. There were also snakes, lizards and other animals all over inside. There was a huge shark hanging from the ceiling and K was terrified of it. It was all we could do to get him to stand for a picture with it.

Thursday we all went to Oceanside Beach. Let me just say, H is a beach baby. She LOVED the ocean. K liked the ocean, too. It was the sea weed that scared him. Seriously. He shrieked anytime any sea weed came near him and made whoever was standing by him pick him up. Even the sea weed on the beach scared him. M wasn't too fond of the water, but that could have been because it was cold. We attempted sand castles. K declared mine to be a volcano. In my defense, I was just getting a pile of sand and hadn't even started my actual castle.

Friday we came home. The ride was much quieter as K fell asleep and stayed asleep until Blythe. Even though our vacation was fun I think we were all happy to be home. M was thrilled to be able to stretch out on the floor and wiggle around.

Random Act of Kindness

I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days and just haven't. Here goes.

On the 4th of July we had one heck of a monsoon "breeze" blow through here. Of course it would be the day after the corn fields behind our house were plowed down. We literally had 6 inches (at least) of corn husks and other debris on our front porch. I didn't know it was there until my brother-in-law picked up our flag (which had been completely ripped off the front of the house) and brought it up to the door at almost 10:00pm. The next day was N and my anniversary and we weren't home pretty much the whole day so it didn't get picked up. Then, it was Sunday--not exactly a Sabbath appropriate activity. Well, Monday morning the kids and I got all ready to go outside and clean it up. We went out the garage and turned the corner to the front door. H was in the lead and stopped dead in her tracks and said, "Huh?" I turned the corner and saw that our porch had been completely swept clean. Our first guess was the Clarks, but Tiffin denies having anything to do with it. We have no idea who did it or when they did it, but it was greatly appreciated.

Now to find some way to pay it forward.

July 4th...Bah humbug!

OK, so the 4th of July is one my favorite holiday (yes, it even beats Christmas). Well, it used to be my favorite holiday. See, I married a man who works in TV production and the company he works for happens to broadcast one of the big 4th of July fireworks shows here. Needless to say, he always has to work on the 4th. And it isn't anywhere near a regular 8 hour shift. Oh no...it is more like be at the station at 8am and get home around 2am the next morning. Add to that the fact that he has to work until 10:45pm the night before and it makes for a horrible two days. N has taken to spending the night at his parents house on the 3rd so as to cut down the drive time and get more sleep.

Now, some people may not think this is so bad, but let me tell you...For me it is. I have a really hard time dealing with my children by myself for that long. Plus, this year M got a summer cold and was miserable both nights. I don't have a very long fuse to begin with, but when I get little to no sleep I have no fuse at all. Add in my pregnancy fatigue and hormones and I was a mess. My poor kids. They weren't even that bad, but I had no patience with them at all.

We were invited to a friend's house for a party, but without N there to help me I would have left after 30 minutes and I would have been in tears. It really is that bad for me.

Alright, enough of that!

One thing that happened on Friday that I had to good sense to take a picture of...We had cheese crisps and beans for lunch (I know, lunch of champions). I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and when I came out K had beans all over his arms, hands, face and the table. He held up his hands and said, "I didn't do it, Mom." I asked him who did and he said, "I don't know."

M is growing like a weed. He is almost 6 months old. We've recently started him on cereal. He liked the oatmeal alright, but when I gave him his first taste of bananas he got a huge grin on his face. I wish I had a picture of it. It was so cute. He has also had peas, but that was when his cold started and he was acting like he had some kind of intestinal pain so I quit the peas. Now, I am pretty sure it was just the cold and not a reaction to the peas themselves. Some time this week we'll try peas again and see what happens. After that is carrots.

H finished her swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago. She did great. We really have to work on teaching her how to come up for breaths. I swear, she'd try to swim the whole length of the pool on one breath if we'd let her. She is getting really excited to start school next month and even laughed when she told her grandma that I was going to cry when she went to school. We'll see who is crying come August 6th...FYI it will probably be both of us!

Babywearing Contest

This would be so awesome to win. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Going Home and Getting a Home

You know that feeling you get when you come home after being gone for a long time? Well, I'd never really experienced it because I've never been too far from home. I went to college here and after N and I were married we moved into an apartment about 5-10 minutes away from our parents. We were always able to visit whenever we wanted. Even now that we are 45 miles away we still manage to get back home every other week or so.

When we were married we moved into an awesome ward with awesome people. We were very sad to leave it when we moved to our current home. We were so excited when my little sister and her new husband moved into that ward and encouraged them to have a baby soon so we could visit the ward for the blessing (yes, it was a very selfish request). Well, this past weekend we happened to be in Phoenix visiting our families and we decided to visit our old ward. It was truly like coming home. Everyone came up to visit with us and I can't even tell you how many people said they had just been thinking about our family or how many of them encouraged us to move back (as if we could afford it!). It was just a great feeling to have so many people remember us and be genuinely happy to see us. We can't wait for March when my sister and her husband bless their baby!

We also put an offer in on a house. It is a nice 2 story, 4 bedroom house with a huge loft upstairs. Everything seems to be moving along with it, but since it is a short sale we could be waiting for months before we hear anything. We took the kids to see it on Monday and they were not even interested in the backyard because they wanted to play on the stairs. If we get the house I hope that novelty wears off really quickly. We'd be a lot closer to N's work and our families, which is really what we were hoping for. An added bonus is that we'd be really close to my best friend (like a mile or two away--hurray!).

Birthday Card Fun

N got a singing birthday card from a friend at work. The kids LOVED it. This video is actually the second time opening it. Their first reaction was better, but this gets the point across.

Untitled (because I don't know what to call it)

I'm sitting here realizing that it has been quite a while since I posted my last post. I wish I could say that we have just been so busy doing fun things that I haven't had time to post, but that would be a lie. Truthfully, it is the opposite. Nothing has gone on that I've felt was post-worthy. (What is wrong with that sentence? It just isn't right.)

N had a birthday earlier this month. He took the day off work to celebrate and surprised me by also taking the day before off, too. We spent his birthday at his parents' house and had a great time.

H and K started swimming lessons yesterday. H is doing...well, swimmingly. She will be swimming on her own in no time according to her teacher. She especially loves to dive for rings at the bottom of the pool. There's only one problem--she floats and that makes it very hard for her to actually get to the bottom of the pool. K's not taking to the water as well as I had hoped. He loves swimming as long has he has his floaties. He'll even jump off the diving board if he has them. So, getting in the water without them has been a little challenging. He is starting to warm up to the idea, but I've decided to pull him out of lessons until next summer when he is a little bit older. N and I will work with him in the mean time to get him used to not having his floaties.

M is just as happy as ever. Seriously, he is the best baby. He pretty much only cries when he is hungry or tired and even then he stops as soon as he is picked up. I marvel at how good he is. I know you're not supposed to have favorite children, but he is mine (at least right now). I'd have 100 babies if I could be guaranteed they'd be like him. (Okay, so not really, but you get my point.)

I'm doing pretty good. So far, this pregnancy is unlike any of my others. I am so tired it is unreal. Luckily, I can take naps when N is home. That helps a lot. I haven't really had much morning sickness. There have been some waves of nausea here and there, but not the constant, all day, wish-I-could-puke-my-brains-out sickness (I probably just jinxed myself). Believe me, I'm not complaining. I had an ultrasound at my appt earlier this month. There is only one baby and everything looks good. K has named this baby "Boo-Boo Sauce." Occasionally it is "Boo-Boo Head Sauce."

Aliens

Can you believe May is over? Where do the days go? The other day N and I went to see Indiana Jones. We haven't been to the movies in...oh...forever. As we were walking in we started talking about the price. We went to a matinee and it was still 15 bucks! Here's a snipet from our conversation:

Me: "Man, I remember when a matinee was $4 and a regular movie was $6."
N: "Yeah, me too."
Me: "Oy! We're turning into those people."
N: "What people?"
Me: "You know, the kind that say, 'I remember when a movie was 4 bucks and gas was 99¢'"
N: "Oh. Those people."

I knew I was getting old, but I really sounded like it during that conversation. By the way--didn't so much care for the movie. Guess I'm not really an alien kind of girl.

Speaking of aliens. I finished The Host on Wednesday. It took me an entire week to read it. It just didn't capture my attention the way the Twilight Series did. I guess I liked it alright, but I thought it was slow in the beginning (meaning hard to follow until I understood what was going on) and at the end. In the middle I found myself torn with what I wanted to happen. I don't know why, but the name Wanda bugged me the whole time I was reading. I'm sure I'd read a sequel (I'd like to find out if the humans ever reclaim Earth and what happens with all the love connections), but I've heard Stephenie Meyer has said she doesn't want to write a sequel. We'll see.